Mike (Virginia Beach)
New member
Murph, I agree with you that they COULD have (and SHOULD have) put a straight shaft on the Excal II. However, it's not like the extra cost of a shaft is a big deal...not when you have Joe in Jersey (for example) giving a FREE Lightning Rod with his (which is what I use on my Excal "Classic", and love it) and I'm sure you could probably work that deal with other dealers as well.
Fact is that the Excal is the best all-around water machine there is and it WILL pay for itself many times over...mine sure has and MANY others I know of as well. We can spend all day talking about "Woulda, shoulda, coulda..." but the bottom line is there are many different ways to hunt with an Excal...hip mount, S-rod, straight shaft, short shaft...it all depends on the person and the type of hunting they do. No diver would have any use for the straight shaft or the standard S-rod either...the dive shaft would be the clear choice. And with a machine that goes down to 200 feet, I think it's clear that Minelab is choosing to cater to the folks that want to actually DIVE with it...or at least get into the deep water with it, where the S-rod again would be the better choice than a straight shaft. In which case, the way it comes is the way it ought to come.
Me personally, I hunt about 75% of the time in the wet sand at low tide. And the other 25% is spent in very shallow to about waist-deep water at most. And I hunt almost completely at night. And I've found so many gold and diamond rings I've lost count at this point. And I also have a Sovereign GT and a Fisher CZ-70, both of which are GREAT beach machines. But all it takes is one time dropping my $800+ machine in the water and it's an $800+ paperweight. So I choose to use the Excal and use it with a straight shaft.
If I could design an Excal for ME, it would be the Excal as it is now, with the two-band selection of the GT and the 12" Sunray coil (with an inline hot-swap waterproof connector for the times when I would want the 10" Tornado coil) and of course the NiMH battery (which I have converted mine to) and a Lightning Rod straight shaft (which I have on mine) and I think I'm even good with the new lime green "Hi-vis" accents on the Excal II...let's add that too!
But at the end of the day, I guess my point is just "Don't let the fact that Minelab fails to include a straight shaft in the standard package (or any other little detail) stop you from getting the best beach machine there is. Go for it. And then make it right for YOU. We've been doing that with Sovereigns, Explorers, and other manufacturers machines for a LONG time. Nobody can be EVERYTHING to EVERYBODY...the nature of the hobby is such that what may be an annoyance for me may be "just right" for you and vice/versa. It's the electronics that matter and they have THAT right!
Fact is that the Excal is the best all-around water machine there is and it WILL pay for itself many times over...mine sure has and MANY others I know of as well. We can spend all day talking about "Woulda, shoulda, coulda..." but the bottom line is there are many different ways to hunt with an Excal...hip mount, S-rod, straight shaft, short shaft...it all depends on the person and the type of hunting they do. No diver would have any use for the straight shaft or the standard S-rod either...the dive shaft would be the clear choice. And with a machine that goes down to 200 feet, I think it's clear that Minelab is choosing to cater to the folks that want to actually DIVE with it...or at least get into the deep water with it, where the S-rod again would be the better choice than a straight shaft. In which case, the way it comes is the way it ought to come.
Me personally, I hunt about 75% of the time in the wet sand at low tide. And the other 25% is spent in very shallow to about waist-deep water at most. And I hunt almost completely at night. And I've found so many gold and diamond rings I've lost count at this point. And I also have a Sovereign GT and a Fisher CZ-70, both of which are GREAT beach machines. But all it takes is one time dropping my $800+ machine in the water and it's an $800+ paperweight. So I choose to use the Excal and use it with a straight shaft.
If I could design an Excal for ME, it would be the Excal as it is now, with the two-band selection of the GT and the 12" Sunray coil (with an inline hot-swap waterproof connector for the times when I would want the 10" Tornado coil) and of course the NiMH battery (which I have converted mine to) and a Lightning Rod straight shaft (which I have on mine) and I think I'm even good with the new lime green "Hi-vis" accents on the Excal II...let's add that too!
But at the end of the day, I guess my point is just "Don't let the fact that Minelab fails to include a straight shaft in the standard package (or any other little detail) stop you from getting the best beach machine there is. Go for it. And then make it right for YOU. We've been doing that with Sovereigns, Explorers, and other manufacturers machines for a LONG time. Nobody can be EVERYTHING to EVERYBODY...the nature of the hobby is such that what may be an annoyance for me may be "just right" for you and vice/versa. It's the electronics that matter and they have THAT right!
